Essentials of Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Donna Lord Black
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СКАЧАТЬ Wynn at Western Psychological Services. Not only did you support me in writing this book, but your belief in SEL and your vision for its future strengthened my commitment, and I am forever grateful. I also want to thank Clark McKown for his willingness to share some of his work in this book. Your expertise in SEL assessment offers support for an area in which schools have a tremendous need, and I truly am grateful for your contributions. Lastly, I want to thank all the wonderful people at Wiley who have helped make this process as painless as possible. For Monica, Darren, and all the editing and production group, you were exceptionally patient in allowing me to work through this at my own pace, and I am especially grateful. Without you, there would be no book.

      INTRODUCTION

      The intent of this book is to provide schools and practitioners with a comprehensive overview of SEL and a practical but systematic approach for implementing it in schools. The book also offers suggestions for how local communities can support schools through alignment of efforts and shared accountability. Please note that the information in the book is applicable to individual schools as well as to whole school systems, such as local education systems, state or regional education systems, or national education. Therefore, in the interest of clarity and consistency, the terms school and school systems are used interchangeably.

      SEL is a global concern, so the information provided in this book is grounded in research from around the world. While a large part of the research focuses on schools within the United States, this book strives to offer ideas and information that can be applied to a global audience. Where there are gaps in research or information, there will be limitations to how applicable it is for international purposes. Thus, readers should be mindful of this and use their own judgment in how the information is applied. Nonetheless, the research contained in the book is the latest available at the time of this publication. Given the gaps between research and practice, however, it is expected that more research will be forthcoming and hopefully will expand beyond the United States.

      ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE

      This book is accompanied by a companion website:

      www.wiley.com/go/black/essentialsofsel

      This website includes fillable versions of forms included in the print book for the reader’s download and practical use.

SECTION I EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) AS A WORLD PHENOMENON

      The realization that social and emotional skills matter as much as, if not more than, academic skills has captured the awareness of schools and communities around the world. Recognition of the critical role these skills play in educating children has swept across the globe and has created a wave of excitement, if not a worldwide phenomenon, that offers a promise of hope for the future of education. As SEL is embraced in schools throughout the world, educators are accepting that this is not simply another trend in education, but is the missing component in how students are educated and prepared for success, not only in school but at home, in the community, in the workforce, and in life. Unapologetically, schools are beginning to expand their focus beyond that of rigor and accountability for academic instruction to an educational program that focuses on the whole child, so that today’s students might be better prepared for life’s opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges.

      Take, for example, Program XYZ. Let’s assume this hypothetical program uses an application for tablet computers (commonly referred to as “tablets”) to improve students’ social awareness skills by connecting them to one another through wireless technology. The school obtains a grant and purchases tablets for each student with the program’s application installed on each tablet. Teachers and students are trained in how to operate the program and all is well, until they experience repeated failures with maintaining wireless connections between the tablets. Without a stable connection, the program won’t operate. Thus, many of the teachers abandon its use. While the problems experienced with the program were related to technology issues (i.e., getting the tablets to communicate with one another) rather than the program itself, the teachers became disheartened and lost interest in the program. Six weeks later, the school principal discovers that a large number of teachers are no longer using the program, claiming it was ineffective. While there clearly was a positive correlation between the teachers’ skills in using technology and the program’s implementation (i.e., both decreased), this did not prove the program was ineffective. It merely showed that teachers lacked the skills needed for resolving the technology issues, and thus were unsuccessful with implementing the program. The program was abandoned before effectiveness could be evaluated, thus wasting valuable time and resources. In situations like this, schools run the risk of making causal connections between a program and its outcomes when, in fact, the relationship between the two may only have been correlational at best. Therefore, schools may be less likely to pursue other efforts to address these critical areas of need and may have difficulty recognizing that SEL is more than a program.

      CAUTION BOX

      Poor program outcomes may not be the fault of the program, but may be due to other factors, such as fidelity of implementation or skill of the staff implementing the program. While there may be correlations between certain factors impacting the program’s outcomes, this does not mean these factors caused the outcomes.